UVA Shooting Suspect Arrested After Three Football Players Killed

A suspect is in custody after a gunman killed three University of Virginia football players and injured two more on campus Sunday night.

Police arrested UVA student and former football player Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., and he is being charged with second-degree murder, UVA police chief Tim Longo announced Monday morning at a press conference, per ESPN.com.

Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis and D’Sean Perry, all members of the Cavaliers football team, were killed late Sunday night in a mass shooting. One of the other victims is in critical condition, while another is in good condition. Their names were not released Monday in order to protect their privacy.

A visibly shaken Longo appeared to learn of the suspect’s apprehension in real-time as he updated the press on the situation.

The shooting took place on a bus full of students returning to campus from a field trip, UVA president Jim Ryan said at the press conference. A shelter-in-place command was given to students overnight, as law enforcement searched the entire campus. That shelter-in-place call was lifted Monday morning shortly before Jones was taken into custody.

Jones was listed on the UVA football roster in 2018 but didn’t see any game action.

The UVA threat assessment team knew about Jones after he made a comment about owning a gun, and student affairs investigated the situation, Longo revealed in the press conference, per Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter Mike Barber. However, the motive for the shooting is unclear.